Lowell patrolmen OK contract term that allows GPS in cruisers

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/01/2013 08:28:55 AM EDT

Lavallee: Great tool for deployment, accountability, officer safety.

LOWELL -- The Lowell Patrolmen's Union has agreed to a new contract with the city that calls for the implementation of top city officials' plans to use global-positioning systems on police vehicles to track officers, an initiative the union had previously expressed reservations about.

The patrolmen join the city's Superior Officers' Union in agreeing to the use of the GPS devices.

If the City Council approves the patrolmen's new three-year pact Tuesday night, the Police Department can turn on the GPS consoles already on police vehicles in the near future, then-Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee said last week.

Top command staff will monitor the information provided by the devices, and the data can be used to make sure officers are spending time in crime hotspots, said Lavallee, who retired Friday.

"The GPS will be a great tool for deployment, accountability and officer safety," Lavallee said. "It should be beneficial to both the Police Department and the entire community."

In addition to the devices providing information about the location and movement of front-line marked vehicles, they also will track the superintendent, deputy superintendent and sector captains' vehicles.

Before the GPS consoles, known as automatic vehicle locators, are activated, the superior officers will have to complete training on how to utilize the information they provide, Lavallee said.

Capt. Kelly Richardson, a spokesman for the Police Department, said training is being scheduled for sometime in the coming weeks.

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The city has paid $230 per month for the last nine months to Verizon for the global-positioning system. The monthly fee has been paid through a trust fund made up of money taken during drug seizures.

The leadership of the Patrolmen's Union, which represents 170 members, had previously expressed concerns that the information the GPS devices provide would be used for officer discipline.

Union President Dennis Moriarty had said the union also did not want the data from the GPS devices stored, and would only approve the use of the devices with certain stipulations.

He declined to comment on the agreement reached with the city before the City Council's vote on it.

City Manager Bernie Lynch was on vacation last week. Tom Moses, the city's chief financial officer, said he could only confirm what was in the agreement, but declined to comment further.

The memorandum of understanding reached between the Patrolmen's Union and the city that was provided to the City Council does not mention any restrictions on the use of the GPS devices.

As a result of signing on to the use of GPS in police vehicles, patrolmen will receive a .25 percent increase in their base pay retroactive to last July 1.

That increase is in addition to others called for in the contract, which covers July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2015. During the life of the contract, union members will see their pay raise by at least 7.25 percent.

In fiscal 2013, which began last July 1, officers will get a 1.5 percent salary increase. In fiscal years 2014 and 2015, union members will receive 2.5 percent salary increases.

The other .5 percent increase in pay over the three years comes as a result of the union agreeing to changes governing employees who are injured while on duty.

Police officers and firefighters found to be injured in the line of duty are allowed by state law Chapter 41, Section 111F, to collect their salaries free of all taxes until their recuperation is complete and they return to work.

Under the new agreement, while an officer is receiving 111F benefits, he or she will no longer be able to accrue time for sick leave or vacation.

Officers out on 111F also may be required, at the discretion of the police superintendent, to perform "light duties" in the Police Department on a full-time or part-time basis. Light duties are defined as those currently performed by other patrolmen and that are consistent with an officer's limitations due to their injury or illness.

The superintendent's decision that an officer could perform light duties would have to be supported by a physician specializing in the officer's type of injury or illness.

The Superior Officers agreed to the same changes in the contract they signed with the city last year.

Another provision of the Patrolmen's Union deal matching the Superior Officers' pact is the stipulation that new members will no longer to be able to buy back a percentage of their accumulated sick leave or buy back five sick days per year.

Patrolmen's Union members will also receive a $500 signing bonus that will not be added to their base pay.

Moses estimated the contract will cost the city about $320,000 in the first year, which the city can pay for with the $1 million set aside in the current fiscal year's budget for employee pay raises.

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